Too Late
by Michaela Marie
Summary: What if Belle was too late, too late to save the Beast and his friends. What would have gone diferently, what would the Beast have done?


"Break down the door!" yelled Gaston standing in the rain, hands on his hips looking very important while his fan girls huddled behind him squealing, surrounded by a mass of the villagers. As a group of the villagers shuffled past him they took the battering ram and began beating it against the door, causing the thirty-foot tall door to shake and shudder. Groaning fro the force of the battering ram.

Meanwhile in the castle as half of the servants went around gathering weapons, the other half were running through the castle gathering things to try to blockade the door as the Beast stood overlooking the villagers outside from his balcony off the west wing. Lumiere and Cogsworth stood behind him looking hopelessly at the Beast unsure of what to say first.

"Why did you let her go?" Lumiere questioned hesitantly.

"I had to, I did it because I love her..." the Beast said solemnly.

"But, now we shall never be human again!" cried Cogsworth. To which Lumiere reached over and hit Cogsworth over the back of his clock face. Cogsworth reached up to rub the back of his head, while giving Lumiere a "What was that for?" look.

"Master, you made a very noble choice, it took a lot of love to let her go." Lumiere drawled in his French accent.

"I know," he growled in response, "though it doesn't make me feel much better." From below in the castle foyer they heard a boom as the huge wooden doors were flung open, proceeded by yelling and clanging.

"Master, they made it into the castle! You must go or they'll kill you!" cried Cogsworth

"Let them come." he muttered, collapsing against the balcony railing.

"But Master-" started Lumiere.

"No! I said let them come!" he roared whipping around to face them. Lumiere and Cogsworth backed away to leave him alone but when they'd made it out the door they were met by Gaston. They froze in their tracks as he sauntered past them into the room where the Beast was hidden away. Before they could warn the Beast though Gaston had silently entered the room and closed the door behind him. The Beast during all this had been looking down at the entrance to the castle when Belle had galloped up on her horse Philippe.

"Belle?" uttered the Beast to himself, "Belle!" he called to her.

"Beast!" she cheered with a big smile on her gorgeous face. Her long brown hair had come loose from it's tie and was being whipped around her face by the wind and rain. Then all of a sudden her face fell and a puzzled look crept onto her face, which quickly turned to one of recognition as she yelled, "Look out!"

"What?" the Beast yelled back.

"Look out Beast! Behind you!" she looked frantic now as she began racing towards the castle, spurring Philippe into a full gallop down the bridge between the gate and the castle. The Beast turned around to find Gaston standing, knife raised about to plunge it into his back. The Beast quickly knocked the knife to the ground and tackled Gaston. They rolled backwards into the room where they crashed through some of the old, decaying furniture. They just missed the table holding the rose beneath its glass case by a foot and continued their scuffle further into the room. They hit the frame of the old canopy bed causing the moth eaten drapes to dislodge and fall onto them, which is when Beast felt Gaston go limp in his arms. The Beast backed out from under the drapes and away from Gaston, to the balcony again to search the people below for any sign of his beloved Belle. He was so consumed with his search that he didn't hear when Gaston began to shift beneath the drapes behind him. Beast could have been hurt very badly had it not been for Belle bursting through the door of the room and yelling for the Beast to turn around. He managed to turn just in time to brace himself for the on coming tackle, though he wasn't able to brace himself well enough unfortunately because both of them went over the railing, the Beast pulling Gaston with him.

"BEAST!" Belle screamed running through the trashed room, out into the pouring rain, to the edge of the balcony. She leaned over to see Beast and Gaston fighting on a ledge of the roof fifteen feet below. Breathing a sigh of relief she watched helplessly from above as the Beast fought valiantly against Gaston. Beast finally managed to get the upper hand and with one hard swipe of his massive paw he sent Gaston sideways into the slope of the roof. Gaston slumped to the ground and didn't move as the Beast stood over him panting from the effort.

"Beast!" Belle called, "Are you okay?" The Beast looked up towards her blinking from the rain and in response began climbing slowly up the slippery roof to her. "Be careful!" she said as the Beast got closer and reached out his paw to her. She leaned out over the wet railing and took a hold of his outstretched paw, while he pulled himself over the railing and onto the balcony without letting go of her hand. When he was standing on the balcony in front of her she flung herself into his arms knocking the Beast back a step with shock. She clung to him muttering about how she had been so frightened, and didn't know what she would have done if she'd lost him. They stayed in their embrace for what felt like ages, neither one wanting to let go, and neither making any move to. Then suddenly without warning the Beast convulsed, arching his back while letting loose a roar that shook the windows behind them.

"What happened?" screamed Belle, but before the Beast could answer he shifted to reveal Gaston standing behind him looking victorious while the Beast had a long hunting knife stuck in his shoulder. With a low growl the Beast whipped around and knocked Gaston over the edge of the railing past the castle and over the cliff beside it. As he fell, screaming in terror the whole time, Beast collapsed to the balcony carefully avoiding his shoulder and hardly breathing.

"B-Beast?" Belle stuttered as she flung herself down on top of him. She clutched at his cape, now drenched and tattered, holding him closely; she began to cry very softly. "Don't leave me..." Belle whispered into the Beast's chest. She was met with no response except for a flutter of his eyelids. "I love you." she whimpered. But unbeknownst to her the last petal of the rose that the Beast had protected so fervently had already fallen, and nothing was happening to the Beast. "Please come back to me!" Belle wailed into his chest, which slowly began to rise and fall again. Ever so slowly he opened his eyes to find Belle leaning over him shielding his face from the rain falling all around them. Her hair was drenched and sticking to her cheeks but to him she looked beautiful. She was his beloved Belle and she'd saved him when he'd needed it most. The Beast groaned and tried to sit up shifting up onto his forearms before he collapsed back to the wet balcony floor.

"Shh, just rest for a bit." she said gently, taking his paw. "Just breathe."

The Beast coughed and growled out, "I'm still hideous?"

"You aren't hideous Beast."

"Nothing happened?" he said holding up one of his massive paws to her small, delicate face.

"Was something supposed to?" she questioned gently.

"I was trying to change for you, to be human again. I'm sorry."

"Beast! I love you, I don't care what you look like!"

"But… I'm hideous like this, how could you ever love this?"

"It's what's on the inside that counts, Beast." She uttered pulling him close. "Tell me one thing though."

"What would you like to know?"

"Your real name…"


End file.
